Page 245 - Project+

conduct business operations from another location is an example of a business

continuity response.

Project Suspension

In my humble opinion, if your organization has had a disaster and is enacting their
business continuity response plan, it’s extremely likely your project will be
suspended until business operations are restored. The same is true for an incident.
Depending on the incident type and impact, you might find the project sponsor
putting the project on hold until the incident is resolved and business returns to
normal.

Resource Changes Another communication trigger for your project is resource
changes, especially if key resources are impacted. Anytime a project manager changes,

there should be a meeting to announce the change. Perhaps you have resources with
specialized skills who have taken employment elsewhere or are experiencing personal
circumstances that require an extended absence. This should also be communicated to
the stakeholders as soon as you can. Resource changes can have many impacts
including schedule delays, budget increases, and the introduction of new risks to the
project.

While it’s not specifically mentioned in the CompTIA Project+ objectives,
you should note that a change to any of the triple constraints (schedule, budget, or
scope) is a communication trigger.

If a communication trigger occurs, you’ll need to inform the appropriate stakeholders
or project team members and perhaps set up a meeting to discuss the implications. Not
all communication triggers require notification to every stakeholder. You’ll want to
determine the target audience, based on the type of information or trigger that’s
transpired.

Make certain to target your audience and determine the rationale for
notifying stakeholders when a communication trigger occurs so that you are
providing the right information to the right stakeholders.

You might consider capturing your triggers in a spreadsheet or similar program so
that you know who to notify if a communication trigger occurs, when to notify them,
and what method to use. Table 8.3 shows a sample communication trigger plan.

TABLE 8.3 Example communication trigger plan

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